Soap dispensing device



Sept. 13, 1932. R. s. WALKER SOAP DISPENSING DEVICE Filed March '7', 1928 INVENTOR- Patented Sept. 13, 1932 4 UNITED" mm TEN RICHARDS. WALKER, OF PETERSBURG, VIEECl-IIIIQ'IA. l i

SOAP DISPENSING nEvIcn Application filed March 7,

This invention is directed to an improvement in soap dispensingdevlces 1n which a cake of soap 1s under more or less constant feeding pressure, which soap, through con- I trol of a; manually operableflelement, is delivered through the outlet of the device in a finely comminuted form.

In devices of this character, it is important that the soap material be delivered in as fine a form as possible and that the operation on the soap bodyor cake to form it into the fine powder be ofa character to insure as complete a use ofthe entire cake as possible. To

secure thisresult it has been heretofore proposed to subject the surface of the soap cake to a cutting or abrading action, acting on the cake in one direction only, with the result that the particles so delivered are somewhat coarse and not as easily soluble in water as the finer powder, and the cake, in those portions not immediately attacked by the cutters, will flake off or break in larger particles, which is objectionable. 7

It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention toprovide a cutter peculiarly adapted for the treatment of the soap cake in that in its operation it not only cuts into the cake vertically but also horizontally, thus insuring that the full surface areaof the cake is similarly operated on and that the particles delivered as a result of the cutting operation are in-the finest. powdery form to insureeasy and speedy solubility.

Devices of this character are usually in the form of containers fixed to the walls of public wash rooms and the like and unless provision is made tothe'contrary, the soap cakes are frequentlyextracted in their entirety from the device by unauthorized persons. This in some instances has been overcome by the use of a key-controlled lock which, while it may function tov prevent extraction of the soap cake, requires that the person authorizedto renew the soap make more or less frequent inspection to determine whether or not the soap requires renewal coupled of course with the use of a key orother unlocking element.

A further object of the invention is to provide a means for automatically notifyingany 928. Serial, No. 259,852. r

interested party of the fact that the soap in I the container has been exhausted. This means-includes a lock'for the closure, with a spring hingeconnecting the closure with the container; The lock'is arranged to be autoplungerwhen the latter has reached a position incident 'to'the complete use of the soap cake. The automatic release of the lock causes the spring hinge tomove the closure to open position, thus notifying both the attendant and anyone desiring to use the device that the soap is exhausted.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which: I ji Figure 1 isa' view in elevation of the improved soap dispensing device, 1 interior parts being shown in dotted outline.

Figure 2 is a section on line 2+2 of 'Figurel. .j

Figure 3 is an enlarged front elevation of'the cutter. s

Figure 4; is a sideview of one of the disks. making up the cutter. I Figure 5 is a broken elevation from the inner side of the. closure to illustrate more particularly the locking matic operator therefor.

means and the auto 'maticallyreleased by cooperation with the I Figure 6 is a broken sectional viewshowinga slightly modified form of cap. 7

It is an essential purpose of the present invention to provide a simple, thoroughly effective device of this characterwhich' may be economically produced and which as a result will permit the use of such devicesto an-extent ,now prohibited by'the first cost thereof. To this end, it is to be understood that the various parts of the device now to be described are constructed of stampings and are formed so that but the minimum mechanical operation other than a stamping process is necessary in the construction of the device." v

' In thepreferred embodiment of detail, .-as illustrated .in the accompanying drawing, the construction provides a casing I, preferably rectangular in cross section, formed with frontand rear walls 2 and side walls 3, the side walls 3 throughout tions being extended into rounded or circular their lower porlo line, as at 18,

. ing means.

format 4: and the front and rear walls being curved in coincidence withthe edges of the side walls, as at 5, to form a more or less circular enlargement 6-at the lower end of the casing which provides a delivery outlet 7 1 V Thefrontwall 2 of the casing 1 isfformed with an opening having a door or closure S hinged at the upper end, as at 9, and provided at its lower end with an operating knob or handle 10. The h1nge'9- isof the spring type capable of opening and raising the closure if the latter is unlocked' Within the upper rectangular portion of the casing 15 mounted a follower 11, corresponding in contour but of less'sectional dimensions than the The follower is preferably hollow to permit it to be formed as a stamping, and aspring 12 bears between the upper or cap end 13 ofthe casing and the plunger, the spring being preferably of a diameter to permit its lower end to seat within the plunger.

A rotary cutting and comminuting element is mounted in the circular enlargement 6 of the casing. This element forms one of the casing.

essential features of the invention and in-' cludes a shaft 14 mounted transversely of thecylindrical casing enlargement and eX tended at one end in the form of a crank 15 through which the shaft may be turned at will. On the shaft, within the circular enlargement, are arranged disks 16 of a diameter somewhat less than that of the circular enlargement (Shaving their peripheral edges preferably formed as a series of teeth 17 Each disk is divided on a diametric the divisions extending from the peripheral edge of the disk to: a point short of the center ofthe disk. The disks are arranged upon the shaft 14 and spaced by sleeves 19, the arrangement being such that the'disks and shaft constitute a unita-ry structure through any appropriate fasten- Through the line of division 18, each disk is divided substantially into halves and each 7 half is twisted from its normal plane into a plane -ma rginally coincident with the edges of immediately adjacent disks on each side. Thus, each half of each disk is deflected at relatively reverse inclinations from the shaft 14 so that one portion of a particular disk hasits respe'ctive ends in coincidence with the ends of an opposing portion of each of n two adjacent disks. There is thus provided will eventually reach a point at cake of soap.

nection 23 with the closure. The lip portion 22 is designed to seat by'gravity in rear of the lower margin of the closure opening in the front wall 2, in which position it is obvious that the closure 8 is locked against opening.

-As the follower 11 moves downwardly, it

' whichlittle or no soap remains in the cake. 2

to this position of the follower, a projection 4 on such'follower engages thatend of the bar 20 opposite'the lip 22, and as the follower continues its movement, it is apparent that the bar 20 will be swung on its pivot 21 to withdraw the-lip 22 from locking co- P operation with the casing wall.- The closure 8is then free andis swung open by spring hinge 9 to permitthe insertion of a fresh 'A cake of soap, .indicated at 25, isplaced 'beneaththe follower 11 .which, under the. in-

fluence of the spring 12,forces the soap into contact with the cutting and comminuting element Whenever it, isdesired to obtain the crank 15 is turned,

a quantity of soap,

edge of the now spiral causing the toothed cutter to engage in and surface of the cake of soap. Inthis operation, the teeth 17 will, of course, cut into the mass of soap in a vertical direction but as these teeth are, during this vertical out, being moved transversely of the cake of soap,

it follows that the cutting operation is tak-' ing place simultaneously in two directions relative to the cake of soap and hence the material of the soap cake'is divided into the finest powder-like flakes which will gravitate through the outlet 7 onto the hand or onto any article placed therebeneath.

Itjis to be particularly noted that the out-.

Just prior operateon the lower ting and comminuting element is. formed of disks readily and conveniently stamped from metal and easily and simply arranged in proper form to provide the spiral element: desired. The characteristic function of this element in cutting the soap cake in two an gularly related directions. at the same time insures a proper comminuting of the 'material to present the finest powdery orfla'ky. condition, and at the'same time insuresthe cutting'awa'y of the full area of the lower surface of the cake;

That is to say,'there are no margins, projections, or other parts of the cake left in any one plane followingthe operation ofthe cutter, and hence a subsequent 7 operation does not tend to break off larger undesirable portions of the soap with consequent loss of material and disadvantageous solubility in use.

In connection with the type of cutting and comminuting element described, it is, of

course, understood that the disks may be in the form of independent knives having sharp? V ened edges or may be in other appropriate detail structure so longasthedesirable function of cutting into the cake of soap in each of two right angularly related directions in V a single operation of the element is maintained.

After the soap cake has been introduced, it is apparent that it will remain in position locked against extraction against unauthorized persons until the limit of its use has been reached, at which time the closure 8 will be automatically unlocked to permit the introduction of a fresh cake.

, The soap dispensing device as a whole is preferably provided with a bracket 26 by which it may be secured to a fixture.

If it is desired to dispense with the closure 8 and introduce the soap throughthe upper end of the casing 1, the cap, similar to the cap 13 in the preferred form, may be constructed as indicated in Figure 6. As shown here, the cap 27 is adapted to telescope the upper end of the casing 1, being provided with walls 28 on two opposing sides which are formed with openings 29 to snap over pins 30 on the walls 3, the lower ends of the extended walls being out-turned at 81'to provide for disengaging the cap at will. Here, the cap may be removed, the spring 12 and follower 11 lifted out, the fresh cake of soap applied, and the follower, spring and cap returned to operative positions.

It will be apparent from the construction that practically all parts of the device are of a nature to permit them to be readily stamped from sheet material. rially facilitates the manufacture of the device and so cheapens its first cost as to permit it to provide an extremely simple,serviceable and readily salable article incident to its economic production.

What is claimed to be new is:

1. A cutter for soap dispensing devices, comprising a shaft mounted for rotation, a series of disks mounted on the shaft and held in relatively spaced relation, the disks being divided diametrically from their free edges to a point short of the center, the respective halves of each disk as thus provided being reversely twisted to cause the peripheral edge of one half of each disk to register with the peripheral edges of the opposing halves of adjacent disks, whereby to present a spiral edge.

positely twisted toarrange the peripheral edge of each twisted portion at an angle other than a right angle to the axis of the shaft,

This mate- 2. A soap dispensing device of the type cutter for comminuting the soap, said cutter including a shaft mounted for-rotationin shaft and having cutting elements on the peripheral edges, each-of the disks being divided on a diametric line inwardly from th'ecasing, a plurality of disks secured on the i I the peripheral edge and terminating short of the bearing on the shaft to form each disk into approximately equal sections, each section of each disk being reversely turned at an angle to the normal plane of the disk and to an extent to cause the'peripheral edge at the juncture of the line of division to register with the similar point of one of the twisted sections of the next adjacent disks, whereby to present an uninterrupted spiral cutting ter.

disks arranged at an. inclination to the nor- 7 mal plane of the disks.

In testimony whereof I affix my. signature.

RICHARD S. WALKER. [Ll s.]

4. A cutter for soap dispensing devices 5 edge throughout the axial length of the cut-t I 

